What about other military operations?Read the whole interview.
"This is not just about Diyala province. There are operations going on all around Baghdad (in the south, west, north and east). This is part of an offensive all around Baghdad and some areas inside Baghdad. It is what we call the Baghdad belt. This is using the five brigades and a combat aviation brigade and Marine Expeditionary Unit. This is a combined effort."
Will this be enough to restore security?
“You are never going to eliminate sensational attacks in Baghdad. That cannot be your metric of success. What we have to do is reduce their number and their impact. We had done quite well until the attack yesterday that killed a number of innocent civilians.”
Is it not too late to halt the violence?
“There is a period of omnipotence. There was a period in the beginning when there was a ‘golden hour’. Inevitably, it does not matter how much you were viewed as a liberator, over time you will be seen as an occupier. The interesting dynamic here is that we have been here long enough to become liberators again for certain sectors of the population, those that are affected by extremism.”
“If anyone can pick up the baton and run with it, it is David Petraeus,” said retired Gen. Gordon Sullivan, a former Army chief of staff.
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